Three Identical Strangers tells how triplet brothers born in New York City in the 1960s were separated at birth, adopted out to three different families, and then how they accidentally discover one another and reunite. The story is an entertaining one. When they find each other in the early 80s, the event became a national sensation, and the brothers enthusiastically embrace all the publicity - newspaper...

Kedi ("cat" in Turkish) is equal parts a meditation on the quirky nature of cats, the people who love them, and the city of Istanbul. Seen through the eyes of the filmmakers, the cats are full of character and are charming, living in happy co-existence with the humans who dote on them, in a city that glows with Old World charm. A cynic might say that it's not a true representation of things....

It’s hard to know what the filmmakers’ intent was in making Before the Flood, a documentary about climate change. For those of us who already believe scientists’ claims of climate change, we don’t really need to see the rising waters in India or shrinking glaciers in Greenland to be convinced. For those who believe that 97% of climatologists are engaged in a grand conspiracy and that climate...

The Boston International Film Festival was held in April and presented the New England premiere of The Guys Next Door. The documentary is the story of family: Erik, Sandro and their two daughters; the family of Rachel, who was the surrogate mother to Erik and Sandro's girls; and the extended family that results from the combination of the two nuclear ones. We interviewed Allie Humenuk,...

Recently, I was introduced to a video called “Where Art Changes Lives,” which gave a glimpse into a visual arts non-profit center in San Francisco, Creativity Explored. This organization “is a place where developmental disabled artists come to strengthen their sense of self, explore their potential in the world and get the tools to establish themselves as working artists.” In this video we are introduced...

This week I watched a wonderfully powerful documentary film entitled, “Alive Inside.” It focuses on the work of Dan Cohen and his organization, Music & Memory. Their mission is to reconnect nursing home residents with a sense of their identity through music. By creating personal music playlists on iPods and distributing them to the nursing home residents, Dan and his team work to reestablish...

I came across this short video and it drew me in. Reasons why I like it: Yes, it's an advertisement for Nike's FuelBand. But it's also a documentary film (my favorite kind) delivered in a very unusual way. The energy is high. The pacing is fast. Even though the main character visits 13 countries in 10 days, all in less than 5 minutes, the video still tells a story. It has a home-movie feel,...

Airlines get a lot of grief for nickel-and-diming customers while simultaneously reducing services, but one thing I have to give them credit for is offering a pretty decent selection of free movies on the longer flights. While flying home from Europe last weekend, I was happily able to kill three hours of the nine-hour flight watching a couple of very good documentaries - Undefeated and Bully. Films...

In a post from awhile back, we shared some of our favorite documentary films, and Hoop Dreams was identified as "must-see." It definitely lands in my all-time favorite top ten. The Interrupters is another documentary by the same filmmaker, Steve James, who co-directed and produced the film with Alex Kotlowitz.  The personal story-lines in The Interrupters aren't as powerful as those in Hoop Dreams,...

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead seems like a combination of things. It begins as the personal journey of Joe Cross, the filmmaker, to a healthier life. He also mixes in some education on nutrition. And the films ends with an inspirational moment and an invitation to change our bad eating habits. Stories of personal journeys usually are most powerful when there's a strong, narrative arc: desperate man, living...